When Athens High School boys soccer coach Ron Oakley reads off the list of teams his Golden Eagles have played this season, it reads like a who’s who among the state’s best in Class 6A.

“We’ve played the No. 1 team, the No. 2 team, the No. 6 team, the No. 7 team and the No. 9 team,” Oakley said. “Three of those were in the Florence tournament, and the other two were in the Southern Shootout in Foley.”

The Golden Eagles played in the Foley tournament the weekend of Feb. 16, defeating unranked Alma Bryant 3-0 in the first game before tying ninth-ranked Stanhope Elmore 1-1 in the second game, and falling to sixth-ranked Daphne 2-0 in the final game.

Athens then played in the Florence Soccer Challenge last weekend, which attracts some of the top boys high school soccer programs in the state.

Athens fell in a close 1-0 decision to No. 2 ranked Fort Payne, before battling to a 1-1 tie against No. 7 ranked Albertville. Their reward was to then play the No. 1 team in the state in Class 6A in Homewood, which didn’t turn out well for the Eagles, as they suffered a 4-0 drubbing.

However, Oakley was pleased his team performed well in all its games against the top teams, except for the final game against top-ranked Homewood.

“Our guys have competed well against those top teams, and that gives you confidence,” Oakley said. “We’ve already played five of the top 10 teams in the state, and Homewood is the only team that has dominated us. And in that game we had a couple of starters not playing.”

Oakley said another advantage of playing the top teams in the state is to help the team improve before playing its area games, which are the ones that decide whether Athens will make the playoffs.

“Playing better competition makes you better,” Oakley said. “After a match, we will also look back and ask ourselves ‘What is something that team does really well that we could incorporate into our team?’ A team we play might do something exceptionally well and we say, ‘We could probably do that.’ I believe you only learn from your losses, and that gives you an opportunity when you’re playing those types of teams.”

The strategy seems to have worked, as Athens (4-3-1 overall) is 2-0 in area play, having defeated Muscle Shoals twice, a 2-1 victory on the road before a thunderous 6-0 home win.

Florence and Hazel Green are the other two teams in Class 6A, Area 16, and only the top two teams make the playoffs. Florence (4-1-1) is ranked No. 5 in 6A while Hazel Green is also a perennial playoff contender.

“Pretty much everybody we play is good,” Oakley said. “If you don’t bring your ‘A’ game in our area, you will lose. You might lose even if you do play well.”

While Athens has already taken on five of the top 10 teams in the state in 6A, and will play a sixth team when they face Florence in area matches April 12 and April 19, Oakley wouldn’t mind playing any or all of those teams again.

“We do hope to play those teams again,” he said. “That would mean we’ve advanced deep into the playoffs.”